The present invention relates to configuration of custom gestures and custom soft buttons on touch screen enabled devices.
Touch screen enabled devices, such as electronic white boards, tablet computers and smart phones, are often configured to recognize certain gestures and take certain screen actions in response to these gestures. An example of such a gesture is a hand-drawn symbol that causes selected screen text to be converted to boldface type. Configuration of touch screen enabled devices to recognize certain gestures can greatly enhance the utility of such devices for collaboration, such as when giving a presentation or editing a joint document.
Gestures recognized by some touch screen enabled devices are limited to default gestures configured on the devices by the manufacturer. Limiting recognized gestures to default gestures has many shortcomings. Some users may have trouble remembering the default gestures. This problem can be particularly serious for users who use several touch screen enabled devices that support different default gestures. Moreover, some users may have difficulty drawing certain default gestures. Also, temporary users (e.g., a corporate visitor giving a presentation on an electronic white board) may be unfamiliar with the default gestures. Additionally, some users may simply be uncomfortable with drawing gestures and prefer pressing action buttons to manipulate screen data.
Some touch screen enabled devices allow users to configure replacement gestures for default gestures by invoking a configuration tool or widget. Allowing a user to configure replacement gestures can help that particular user with remembering and drawing gestures. However, when a touch screen enabled device is used by multiple users, configuration of replacement gestures by one user will hinder use of the device by other users who are unfamiliar with the replacement gestures. Moreover, the requirement on these devices to invoke a configuration tool or widget to configure replacement gestures can disrupt the train of thought, presentation or workflow of a user. Furthermore, the ability to configure replacement gestures does not help the plight of users who do not like drawing gestures and prefer using action buttons to manipulate screen data.